South Shore mayors continue legal battle over disputed Mohawk lands

Four Quebec municipalities on the South Shore will return to court Monday as they fight the Quebec government over a stretch of land that was transferred to Kahnawake, after the construction of Highway 30.

Chteauguay, St-Isidore, St-Constant and Ste-Catherine originally launched the lawsuit in 2013, after former Premier Pauline Marois's governmentsigned a decree that would see part of the land handed over tothe Mohawk Council.

• 4 Quebec towns fight province over land given to Mohawks

The piece of land in questionborders Highway 30. It runs just over two square kilometres and touches all four South Shore towns.

"We hope to find a solution that is good forKahnawakeand in the interest of municipalities on the South Shore," saidGeoffKelly, Quebec's Minister of Native Affairs, at a press conference on Sunday.

Chteauguay mayorNathalie Simon said the land had officially belonged toSt-Isidorebefore it wasexpropriated by Quebec's Transport Ministry in 1990to build Highway 30.

Shesaid that the municipal mayors had beenconcerned at the time of construction about the lack of consultation about what land would be used.

"For municipalities in Quebec our main business is land planning,"said Nathalie Simon, mayor of Chteauguay.

Mohawks lay claim

The Mohawk Council ofKahnawakesays Highway 30 passes through theirformer territory ofSeigneuryof Sault St.Louis on which the village ofKahnawakewas built and which has been the subject of longstanding land claim disputes.

In addition to the village ofKahnawake, the territory of the formerSeigneuryof Sault St.Louis includes the municipalities ofDelson,Sainte-Catherine, Saint-Constant,Candiac, and part of Saint-Philippe.

Simon told CBC that the South Shore mayors were aware of the Mohawk land claim and that they were hesistant to "start a big fight."

She said that at the time when the land was originally expropriated by the Transport Ministry, they were the ones who "were administering that part of land."

• DisputedKahnawaketerritory at centre of plans for Highway 30 development

While not directly involved in the lawsuit over the expropriated land, Grand Chief ofKahnawake Joe Norton says he hopes the government will follow through on Marois' decree to havethe disputed land handed over to the reserve.

"They don't stand a chance in winning," said Norton.

He went on to say that members of the community will provide witness testimony inthe suit. "We're going to put anything and everything we got behind this," said Norton, at a press conference on Sunday.